The Nigerian economist and World Trade Organization (WTO) director-general called the ripple effect of Trump administration tariffs “the greatest disruption in trade in 80 years.”

She also said that she agreed with some of the criticisms leveled at the organization by the US.

“The crisis is an opportunity to reform (the WTO),” she said, calling from greater transparency and conceding that decision-making “sometimes … does result in paralysis.”

“In this modern world with AI, we need to find a way to be flexible, faster,” she added.

Okonjo-Iweala noted that the US isn’t the only nation critiquing the WTO, and developing nations also have legitimate gripes. “I think they are coming to the fore because of the crisis we’re in,” she said.

Beyond the bureaucracy, the director-general was bullish about the continent’s prospects, pointing to an IMF projection of 4% growth in Africa in 2025 and 2026.

“Most of Africa’s mineral resources are yet to be discovered,” she said, while pointing to the continent containing “67% of the world’s arable land,” and 22% of the world’s working population.

“But how do we make this work for us?” she added.

Okonjo-Iweala called for “careful thinking” on tensions in Nigeria, after US President Donald Trump suggested the United States may take military action there to protect the nation’s Christians.

Okonjo-Iweala, who previously served as Nigeria’s finance minister, said “This is an incredibly complex question. The situation is very difficult and needs careful thought.

“It has religious issues involved in it, it has resource issues involved in it, it has different complexities. So, I just think we need careful thinking through.”

This invitation follows Kariuki’s recognition as a member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs) and her inclusion on Hotlist Africa’s Top 30 Executives in the African Music Industry (2025), further establishing her as one of Africa’s most influential young leaders at the intersection of creativity, technology, and trade.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global organization that formulates and enforces the rules of trade between nations, with 166-member countries representing over 98 percent of global trade and GDP. The Public Forum is the largest global trade policy platform, drawing government leaders, corporate executives, academics, and civil society to discuss the future of trade. Being invited to speak is exceptionally prestigious as it marks Kariuki as a recognized emerging global thought leader.

Kariuki will speak in a session titled “Bridging Digital Divides Through Local Solutions”, highlighting how enabling digital policies and technology infrastructure can allow African creators to scale globally and strengthen the continent’s role in the world economy.

“I am honoured to be invited by the WTO to share Africa’s perspective on digital trade and creativity as a driver of global growth. For too long, creativity has been seen as culture, but it is also one of Africa’s highest-potential commodities. With the right digital policies and local solutions, African creators can reach global markets, scale new industries, and shape the future of trade. As a young, African woman in technology and the creative economy, it is a privilege to represent our continent at this global forum and to ensure our voices and solutions are part of the world’s trade agenda.” – Melissa Kariuki.

Kariuki will join Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Director-General, and an influential lineup of speakers, including:

• Pedro Manuel Moreno, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD
• Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of Technology, UNCTAD
• Aissatou Diallo, Chief, Office for Africa, International Trade Centre
• Katherine Wang, Amazon Web Services, Manager of Trade and Supply Chain Policy
• Claire Alexandra, Head of International Government Relations, PayPal
• Christian Keller, Chair and General Manager, IBM Switzerland
• Fancy Too, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office
• Dr. Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, Executive Director, South African Institute of International Affairs

Creativity as Africa’s Next Global Commodity

Africa’s creative economy, currently valued at US$58.4 billion, accounts for roughly 4 percent of the continent’s GDP but represents less than 0.3 percent of global creative exports.

For example, in one of Africa’s largest economies, South Africa, the creative sector generated roughly the same amount of revenue as agriculture at US$8.7 billion (R161 billion) in 2020.

Analysts predict that with the right digital policies and trade frameworks, African creative exports could reach US$200 billion by 2030, potentially accounting for 10 percent of global creative goods trade.

Kariuki’s contribution to the WTO Public Forum underscores the growing recognition of creativity not only as cultural expression but also as a strategic commodity with transformative trade potential.

The decision was finalised during a General Council meeting held from 28-29 November 2024. Her new term will begin on 1 September 2025, following the conclusion of her initial tenure on 31 August 2025.

Okonjo-Iweala, who made history in 2021 as the first woman and the first African to lead the WTO, was the sole nominee for the position. The reappointment process commenced on 8 October 2024, chaired by Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway. 

With no competing candidates by the 8 November deadline, her candidacy received unanimous support from the organisation’s 166 member nations.

During the special council session, Okonjo-Iweala presented her vision for the WTO’s future, addressing issues such as reforms to the global trade system, negotiations on fisheries subsidies, and the need to strengthen the dispute settlement mechanism. Members engaged in a robust Q&A session before formally endorsing her reappointment.

In her comments, Okonjo-Iweala was grateful for the trust placed in her and reaffirmed her vision to ensure global economic resilience through trade. “We have made significant progress, but much remains to be done to address the complexities of today’s trade environment,” she said, noting her priorities for her next term.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala brings a wealth of experience to the role, drawing from her tenure as Nigeria’s finance minister, where she successfully negotiated an $18 billion debt relief package in 2005. 

She also served as Managing Director at the World Bank, where she helped in securing funding for development projects in low-income countries.

Currently, global trade tensions are increasing, particularly between the United States and China. Analysts anticipate that Okonjo-Iweala’s second term will involve tackling these challenges while pursuing the WTO’s agenda of inclusivity and fairness in global trade.

Her continued focus on addressing the WTO’s reform needs and enhancing its capacity to adapt to the dynamic global economy is one of the required solutions.

The Director-General of the WTO, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and the President of NACCIMA, Dele Oye Esq., are discussing potential areas of collaboration at the World Chambers Congress in Geneva, Switzerland.

The proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the WTO and NACCIMA will cover various initiatives, including trade promotion, facilitating Nigerian businesses’ access to global markets, and enhancing export capabilities.

These efforts align with the vision of the federal government of Nigeria, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to foster economic growth and diversification.

By leveraging their respective strengths and resources, the WTO and NACCIMA aim to facilitate trade, expand market access, and position Nigeria as a significant player in the global marketplace.

NACCIMA, with its understanding of local market dynamics and commitment to promoting business excellence, will explore opportunities and strengthen collaborations to shape trade policies, foster dialogue, and create favorable conditions for Nigerian enterprises to thrive.

The partnership between NACCIMA and the WTO is expected to yield tangible and transformative results for the Nigerian economy, providing new avenues for trade facilitation and enhancing Nigeria’s position in the global economy.

Both organizations are confident in the possibilities and opportunities that this collaboration will bring about

She made this call during the induction program for re-elected and elected governors organized by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Abuja.

“The debt service to revenue ratio is certainly alarming, at 83.2 per cent in 2021 and 96.3 per cent in 2022, according to the World Bank. This means that at the federal level, after servicing our debt there is little room to pay for recurrent expenditures, let alone investment,” Okonjo-Iweala said.

“Excellencies, please watch your debt profiles, and keep careful control of expenditures, even as you invest in infrastructure, education, and basic health systems. Please endeavor to pay teachers, health workers, and others their salaries, and retirees their pensions.”

During her speech on the theme “Task of Nation Building,” the WTO boss painted a bleak picture of the nation’s economy, urging the governors to adopt best practices that can assist them in fulfilling their promises to the electorate.

“Nigeria’s gross debt has risen significantly from N19.3 trillion in 2015 to $N91.6 trillion in 2023, with the debt-to-GDP ratio almost doubling from 20% to 39%,” she said. “While the debt-to-GDP ratio may not look so alarming, as revenues decline, the burden of debt servicing has increased dramatically.”

Okonjo-Iweala emphasized the importance of paying salaries, pensions, and investing in infrastructure, education, and health systems while urging caution in debt profiles and expenditure control.

On the country’s economic activity, Okonjo-Iweala stated, “The International Monetary Fund projects 3.2 per cent Gross Domestic Product growth this year and 3 per cent next year – slightly better than global growth but underperforming the projected growth rates for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole, which are at 3.6 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.”

She further added, “The current GDP growth rates are higher than the very low 1.2 per cent average annual growth rate registered between 2015 and 2019, the five years before the pandemic, but well below the 6.4 per cent average for the preceding five-year period, from 2010 to 2014.”

Gianni Infantino FIFA President signed a MoU with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General, recently.

The signature ceremony took place on the opening day of the annual WTO Public Forum. And both organisations have committed to ways for football to promote more economic inclusion.

The partnership is spelled out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by FIFA President Infantino and WTO Director-General Okonjo-Iweala where the two sides agreed to collaborate by exchanging views on their respective activities and by preparing and implementing common strategies and projects.

“I’m really excited at the prospect of collaborating with FIFA to try to leverage the cotton sector in a positive way for poor developing countries such as the Cotton 4,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in reference to the WTO’s cotton programme in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali which will is included in the partnership.

“I’m really excited that collaboration with FIFA could help us pull these countries more into the global cotton value chain.” Furthermore, the WHO Director-General added.  “I’m also thrilled at the prospect of working on gender empowerment. We have a big sports economy, and to the extent that we can pull this through trade to support women, this is a positive signal,”

“FIFA redistributes its revenue among our 211 member associations to help them develop football in their countries by notably investing in infrastructure, facilities, competitions, refereeing and coaching,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Yet, we believe that there is still more than football can do, especially for the youth in the developing world. This important partnership can help us find ways of ensuring that football can further promote sustainable development for everyone to benefit from the global football economy.”

FIFA & WTO added that under the terms of the MoU, the two organisations will also work together to analyse the economic impact of football and its role in unlocking global economic growth potential and will explore options for the development of capacity-building activities that support the use of football as a tool for women economic empowerment.

WTO is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who leads as the Director General at WTO, revealed this development in Abuja during a courtesy visit to the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment.

She said the end of the World Trade Ministerial Conference, which ended in June, WTO adopted six major resolutions, but the most important is that which has to do with fisheries subsidies which have been unsuccessful for the past 21 years, but this year we were able to agree on that aspect.

She said the fisheries agreement is part of the six agreements enforced by world trade ministers while expressing the commitment of the WTO to provide capacity for developing fisheries in the country.

“We are committing about $20m to our fisheries fund to fast-track legal fisheries development and curb illegal subsidies,” Dr. Okonjo-Iweala said.

“Nigeria is part of the deal and I came to ensure implementation is in top gear because it is a crucial step in moving the world’s fisheries toward long-term sustainability and in multilateral efforts to address subsidies that harm the natural environment and the well-being of vulnerable communities,” the WTO DG explained.

She added that with the adoption of the agreement, the WTO now prohibits subsidies for vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing and establishes new rules for subsidies for the fishing of stocks that are already over-exploited.

“It also prohibits subsidies for fishing of stocks on the high seas that are not managed by regional bodies,” she added.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, secretary of State for International Trade, hosted the one-day virtual event which aims to unlock millions of pounds of new investment, especially in clean energy industries in both the UK and across Africa.

In a ‘virtual fireside talk’ with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Director General, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said sustainable trade and investment are crucial for reducing global inequality, improving economies, raising incomes and creating jobs.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:  

“Two years on from the inaugural UK-Africa Investment Summit, the UK’s ambition to be Africa’s investment partner of choice has never been stronger.  The continent has huge economic potential, and our continued partnership will help businesses capitalise on investment opportunities, supporting high value jobs and boost enterprise in every part of the UK.

“This year’s Conference focuses on the importance of resilient, sustainable investment to support Africa as it pivots towards a more environmentally-friendly growth trajectory, and I look forward to working with leaders from the continent as they continue on this path to a greener future,” Anne-Marie Trevelyan added.

Her Majesty’s Acting Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa, Alastair Long, said:

“In 2020, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, the Prime Minister set out the UK’s ambition to be Africa’s investment partner of choice. Two years on from the UK-AIS, we continue to bring life to this ambition. Last year, we launched an online Investment Deal Room to provide a platform for African projects to be showcased to UK investors. The Deal Room has already published over £350m of vetted and investable opportunities to date.

“Clean growth is at the heart of the UK’s trade agenda, and with Egypt hosting COP27, the second Africa Investment Conference is an opportunity to explore inclusive, sustainable and resilient investment opportunities that can serve to help Africa transition to a cleaner and greener growth trajectory.”

Showcasing investment opportunities across Africa, including Nigeria:

Following the UK’s hosting of COP26, this year’s conference explored how investment can serve to help Africa transition to a cleaner and greener growth trajectory. As a sign of the growing partnership between the two regions in the clean growth space, UK sustainable battery technology firm Aceleron has secured an investment deal with Mobility 54 Investment SAS, a subsidiary of Toyota Group, as part of its £5m Series A funding round to accelerate the development and use of sustainable batteries in Africa.

As a priority market and investment partner, Nigeria showcased three (3) projects to potential investors:-  the Eko Atlantic Group showcased their planned development covering infrastructure, healthcare, education and tech; Lagos State Waterways Authority discussed utilising Lagos waterways (for passenger and freight transport) and; the project developers for the 255 hectare Abuja Industrial Park Project highlighted opportunities for manufacturing, agricultural and consumer goods distribution companies and their plans to create 40,000 new jobs.

Facilitating UK-Africa trade & investment:

To enhance UK-Africa partnerships, the UK launched on January 22^nd, a new Growth Gateway – a digital tool to link African and British businesses to UK Government trade, finance and investment services and opportunities.

The service provides practical online support to businesses in Africa that want to export to and invest in the UK, and businesses in the UK that want to export to and invest in Africa, backed up by a team of trade and investment specialists.

It follows an increased effort across government to facilitate UK-Africa trade, including that of UK Export Finance (UKEF).

The UK’s export credit agency has significantly increased support for markets in Africa in the past year from approximately £600 million in 2018-19 to over £2.3 billion in 2020-21, supporting a range of infrastructure projects in West Africa; helping to build major roads and bridges as well as providing medical and IT equipment, design services and environmental and social work.

UKEF has capacity to provide further support for UK trade in West Africa, with up to £3 billion available in Senegal, £2 billion in Cote D’Ivoire, and up to £2 billion in Nigeria.

 Minister for Africa Vicky Ford said:

“The UK is deepening our economic ties with countries across Africa. This conference is a fantastic opportunity to bring British and African businesses together to unlock millions of pounds of new investment, especially in clean energy industries in both the UK and across Africa.

“There is so much more that the UK and African countries can do together. Growth Gateway will make it easier than ever for African and British businesses to access the support they need to boost two-way trade and investment.”

Minister for Investment, Gerry Grimstone, said:

“We want more British firms  to sell to the world, taking advantage of new opportunities that present themselves in growing markets like this. The potential is huge. This government has the finance available to back British firms going global in West Africa, supporting growth and development in the region and helping communities and local economies to thrive.”